The Control of Information

How the rich and powerful shape the media and control your mind. By Judith Brown.

“We in the West must bear in mind that the poor countries are poor primarily because we have exploited them through political and economic colonialism.” Martin Luther King.

Fact checking in Africa.

The origins of African fact checking – a colonialist project.

Fact checking in Africa began in 2012, when the first African fact checking platform, Africa Check, was launched in South Africa. The launching of the fact check industry in Africa can be likened to a modern form of colonisation. The African network was launched by Europeans, and is largely funded by American and European governments, corporations, and charitable foundations. Dominant narratives that are protected by the fact check industry in the United States and Europe are similarly protected in Africa, as will be demonstrated in this report.

Africa Check was launched by a foundation that belongs to the French AFP newswire , funded by an award from the Vienna-based International Press Institute. The launch was in Johannesburg following a three day conference at the University of Witwatersrand; this university is a partner of Africa Check. Other partners include Google, Meta, TikTok, two American Foundations, a German Foundation, a Swedish media institute, and other African universities. From 2012 until 2018 it was registered with UK Companies House, after which, it began to publish its accounts in South Africa .

Its accounts verify Africa Check’s dependence on its Western supporters . For example, in 2023, the American government provided 24% of its income from the Department of State, the US Embassy, and the National Endowment Fund (NED). Google provided 17%, and 15% of Africa Check’s income was earned, the majority for third party fact checking on behalf of Meta. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) provided another 13%, and other American and European foundations donated a further 20%. The UN donated 3%; the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) 1%. By comparison, one South African foundation only provided 1% of Africa Check’s income. Hence, Africa Check’s launch partners, and funders demonstrate significant Western influence on the African fact checking industry.

African humanities graduates are often mismatched between their qualifications and their employment . There are limited well paid employment opportunities for such graduates. Good jobs are offered to graduates by the African fact check industry, itself a part of the Western-funded Censorship Industrial Complex. Inevitably, the industry supports Western, not African interests, and hence this could be described as another form of exploitation. Fact checkers euphemistically name censorship as ‘content moderation’, but such activities create resentment and frustration rather than unity. Ideally, African NGOs and think tanks should encourage a pro-Africa perspective, and rather than restricting free speech, they should offer opportunities to share ideas and enter into constructive dialogue

The big players in African fact checking.

From Africa check, Africa’s first entry into the fact checking industry in 2012, there has been a rapid development of African censorship activities, with an extensive support network.

There is a network of think tanks and NGOs that support the fact check industry in Africa. The largest African NGO supporting censorship is called Code for Africa (CfA), founded by a South African journalist, Justin Arenstein, in 2012. It is the continent’s largest network of civic technology and data journalism labs, with teams in 21 countries. Like all parts of the fact check industry, CfA states that it empowers individuals and protects democracy. It is hard to understand how restricting speech and access to diverse opinions achieves this stated aim. CfA’s activities include building infrastructure such as the continent’s largest open data portals at openAFRICA and sourceAFRICA. It also incubates diverse initiatives including a drone network; the PesaCheck fact-checking platform; and an air quality sensor network .

CfA also manages an iLab called African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR); its stated purpose is to provide its members, partners, and collaborators with round the clock investigative support services. This includes providing grants, iLab services including document tracing and encryption services, and fact checking tools. CfA states its iLab services extend across Africa and to the Maghreb, the Arabic speaking part of North-West Africa. CfA additionally has a research arm that uses human analysis, alongside machine learning, and a Data Academy that ‘spearheads training partnerships’. It also has an engagement team that communicates its shared vison of a ‘connected and technologically empowered continent’ .

No information was found relating to the funding for CfA on its website. However, a newspaper report form 2015 reported that CfA received $4.7 million dollars from the Gates Foundation to fund data projects in Africa . CfA launched a Data Journalism Fund in 2016, in partnership with the American International Center for Journalists (ICJ), with funding from the Gates Foundation and the World Bank . Other CfA funders that were located include the German Deutsche Welle and Google .

African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO) was co-founded by CfA and the Atlantic Council’s global Digital Forensic Lab (DFR) in 2020. The Atlantic Council is aligned to NATO, and its funders include the Global Engagement Centre (GEC) which is a US state funded organisation linked to censorship activities; the US military; Blackstone; Raytheon; and STRATCOM . ADDO states that this partnership is to coordinate research into foreign disinformation and propaganda campaigns. ADDO describes itself as a network of 13 independent research think tanks and investigative watchdogs that monitor coordinated attempts to subvert African democracies. According to PesaCheck, ADDO members include African University departments. ADDO website states that it proactively identifies misinformation, and counters this with credible data driven facts. Its functions include annual reports on trust, a China Index, and the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) network. It works closely with African Fact Check Association (AFCA) .

AFCA is an umbrella organisation for fact check groups, founded in 2021 by CfA and its fact check platform partner, PesaCheck. AFCA states it has 380 members in 30 countries, on its website it lists 151 media outlets and institutes that have staff that it has trained in fact checking. This includes broadcasters, press, charities, NGOs and universities. Its partners include the African Centre for People, Institutions and Society (ACEPIS). Its powerful international partners include: the EU; IFCN; UNESCO; and World Health Organisation (WHO) . AFCA and CfA also organise a Newsroom Networking Project to streamline fact checking systems, account profiling, and offer a range of fact checking tools. Eight East African countries are involved in this project, which is funded by the EU .

During the Covid era, the WHO set up an initiative to coordinate the African fact checking industry, called the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA). By 2024, AIRA has morphed into a site that fact checks all health information. AIRA’s partners include three UN departments, the African CDC, the International Federation of the Red cross and Red Cresent (IFRC) and the fact check platform Verified. The associated African fact check platforms listed are AFP, Africa Check, Dubawa, Fact Space West Africa (FSWA, also known as Ghana Fact), and PesaCheck. These are pan-African fact check platforms that between them fact check most of Africa. As well as belonging to AIRA, four of these established cross-border fact check organisations belong to the American Credibility Coalition network, all are verified signatories to the IFCN code of practice. Also all participated in the CoronaVirusFact Alliance database at the American Poynter Institute. In addition, all except FSWA belong to the Facebook Third Party Fact Check Project, which provides a significant part of their income.

It can be seen that CfA is a significant player in the Censorship Industrial Complex, as it manages data. and by doing so, controls the dissemination of information within Africa. It also has links with Western governments, Western corporations, and Western philanthropic foundations that belong to extremely wealthy and powerful families. These donors may provide the majority of CfA funding. Though its subsidiaries and offshoots CfA is associated with NATO and the American military, UN, WHO, American corporations and American conglomerates that have immense assets. These CfA subsidiaries network with other fact check platforms worldwide, via international organisations such as the Credibility Coalition and the IFCN. CfA interests include health and climate information, topics where information is widely controlled in the Western world, which through CfA activities and influence is mirrored in the African continent.

There are other networking NGOs that coordinate content moderation activities, such as the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). MDDA is funded by South African media organisations and the South African government, that awards grants to fact check platforms. This was the only Africa funded organisation linked to fact checking that was located. The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), linked to the George Soros Foundation, again funds media and fact checking activities. The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) is a West African think tank in Nigeria that has extended its reach to both English speaking and Francophone countries, and is also heavily involved in fact checking. It produces reports on online disinformation, as well as reports that follow Western interests, on subjects such as gender, climate, and terrorism . CJID is funded by a number of large American foundations (including Gates Foundation; MacArthur Foundation; Ford Foundation; Luminate Foundation); the American government via the NED, the British Council, and OSIWA.

The fact checking platforms – a coordinated censorship operation.

Most of sub-Saharan Africa is covered by four main fact check groups, each of which have offices in a number of countries. The four main groups in sub-Saharan Africa are AFP Fact Check (four countries located); PesaCheck (operates in eighteen countries in East and Central Africa); Africa Check (four countries); and Dubawa (five countries in West Africa). The funding sources are mainly from the West, as was revealed in the Africa Check details above. In 2023 PesaCheck received two thirds of its funding from social media corporations, and a further 12% from UNDP . Dubawa receives its funding from the US government via the NED; the UK government via the British Council; an American Foundation; two German foundations; Meta; UN; and IFCN. AFP is funded by Meta for its extensive international fact checking activities.

There are challengers to the domination of the big four. For example, FactSpace West Africa (FSWA) (also known as Ghana Fact) has a flagship platform in Ghana, and its submission to the IFCN states that it also fact checks in Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. It is partnered with, and funded by, Africa Check. FSWA claims to have links to 210 journalists and 75 newsrooms, and is also engaged in media literacy and fact check training, stating it has trained 600 journalism students in Ghana . IFCN states that FSWA partnered with Full Fact from UK to develop its fact checking skills .

Another fact check network, based in Nigeria, is the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), that states it has media partners in sixteen West African countries. It has an impressive range of funders: Open Society; OSIWA; American and German foundations; the embassies of America, Netherlands, France, Canada and the EU; World Wide Web Foundation; UNESCO; Oxfam; and others . Through their funding partners and international associates MFWA are integrated into global networks and linked to international influencers; and in turn they have a wide network in West Africa that they support . FSWA and MFWA are growing parts of the African fact check industry, challenging the big four, but still with the same Western influences. Other independent fact check platforms were found in Sub-Saharan Africa, four of which are verified signatories of the IFCN code, and three of which belong to the Face Book Third Party Face Check project. One fact check group was launched with EU funding in 2020 specifically relating to Covid-19 reporting.

The infiltration into North Africa.

In North Africa, most fact check groups that were found are local, dealing with local issues, and do not appear to have links with other international organisations, with a few exceptions. The French newswire AFP and the Jordanian platform Fatabyyano fact check most of the Arabic speaking north on behalf of Facebook. One platform in Tunisia (Misbar) was found that has a partner in Jordan, and an Egyptian platform, the Akhbar Meter, was located - this is a newly verified signatory to the IFCN Code. The Akhbar Meter fact checks on behalf of ten Egyptian media companies. This platform is part of an Egyptian media observatory founded by an Egyptian man, educated in the UK. It is funded by German, European and American backed organisations . Sudan also has a fact check platform registered with the IFCN. On the IFCN site it is stated that this Sudanese fact check platform has gone underground to avoid confrontation with authorities .

What institutions are involved with African fact checking, and who pays?

The majority of funding for all of these organisations comes from international sources. This includes funding from large foundations, as well as governments, and funding from American social media corporates, especially Facebook. Some funds are from the United Nations (UN). When local grants are obtained, the majority of these are from African organisations that in turn get their funding from the same overseas sources.

The censorship industry in Africa includes African newsrooms; African universities; and African civil society organisations; African think tanks; African Fact Check platform support groups; and African journalism associations. However, funders and influencers are almost exclusively from the West, governments, large corporations, and foundations associated with the rich and powerful. It is difficult to challenge those who pay for your services, pay to train your employees, and ensure that your employment and business is secure. Well paid jobs in the Global South are highly desirable, and the fact check industry in all its forms provides a decent living for African graduates and African academics.

Hence, the types of content moderation that appears on fact check platforms is inevitably similar to the content produced by African broadcasters and the African press; social media content moderation in Africa will also follow the same pattern. As happens globally, the African fact check industry provides the manpower that censors information that does not comply with the preferred narrative, and also helps to spread propaganda that is produced by Western powers.

Agendas – Western versus African interests.

African history, culture, climate, resources, health issues, and wealth profile are distinctly different to those of the Western countries that extensively fund its fact check industry. It would be normal to expect that the choice of content would be different to those of European and American fact check sites. There is local content moderated on African platforms, but it is always difficult to check local issues because of lack of local knowledge. For example, with local knowledge, it would be possible to evaluate the manner in which fact check platforms deal with election contenders that are favoured by Western powers, and those that are not. There are the usual trivial checks – for example, on 30 November 2024 Africa Check stated that a woman was arrested in 2022, not 2024. On PesaCheck 29 October 2024, another fact check investigated whether the hottest day ever recorded was in Libya.

Looking at international issues, on PesaCheck on 29 October 2024, three international items were content checked. This included a check on American Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election campaign. The fact check stated that negative comments made by Harris, that appeared in a video, did not refer to President Biden. Another stated that a circulating video claiming that the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Lebanon was AI generated, whilst a third denied that a video was a Hezbollah attack on Acre, Israel. These followed the same themes as US fact checks, which are generally unsympathetic to the Republican campaign of Trump, whilst they downplay Israeli military actions, and are critical of resistance militias. Groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas are not proscribed in African countries, hence there is more opportunity to be open handed in the topics selected for investigation. Nevertheless, PesaCheck follows the American rather than the African agenda; South Africa is currently awaiting the ruling on an appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), claiming a genocide is occurring in Gaza.

There were no fact checks found that referred to Palestinians, Gazans, or Lebanese interests when sites were examined in October 2024. Palestinians and others alleged that a starvation policy was being enacted at the same time as human rights abuses of the Gazans by Israeli forces , but this was ignored. With Africa’s history of recent colonisation, and South Africa’s current appeal to the ICJ, the Palestinian case should have been of interest to Africans. Similarly, there were no fact checks on the Israeli attacks on Iran on 28 October 2024, which Israel declared a success, although this was disputed by some commentators .

Another fact check by Africa Check on 31 August 2022 followed the publication of a study from Thailand, that showed that nearly a third of teenage boys who took the Covid-19 vaccine had cardiac manifestations . This has been taken seriously by a number of eminent doctors, cardiologists and academics, some of whom stated that the vaccines should be halted until there are more studies . Africa Check confidently stated ‘Pfizer vaccine safe for teens – social media posts mangle study results’ . In Africa with a larger proportion of younger people than in the West, this study ought to have been given a more even-handed consideration. Instead of this, Africa Check followed the same agenda as Western fact check platforms, by underplaying studies that showed adverse reactions to vaccines. Despite fact checking efforts to follow Western guidelines, on average, Africa had a lower uptake of vaccines , and also had fewer Covid cases .

The ADDO website was also examined to find the types of reports that were published. There were no articles that examined Western activities and influences, such as the effect of the activities of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. There were no investigations into worrying activities of the decarbonisation industry, such as the exploitation of African people, including children, who work in lithium mines . One report was on the rise of anti-French sentiment in Africa, which was related to Russian interference . Another was more directly critical of Russia’s African Initiative, declaring it to be Russia’s mouthpiece . Another questioned China’s African involvement . These reports have the same Russia-phobic themes and the same questioning of China’s world role as are frequently found in Western media outlets. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, African leaders used the rivalry between the West and the Soviets to gain advantage, but by 2024 the African fact check industry was only following the agenda of its Western funders.

Conclusion.

The fact check industry in Africa was launched in 2012, with European encouragement and funding, and has grown exponentially since then. It is a Western-backed, pan-African industry, that is dominated by a small number of large platforms that cross African boundaries. These are augmented by a few platforms that operate in single countries. The north of Africa has not been so widely penetrated, but the first Egyptian fact check platform, linked to a media observatory, has been verified as a signatory of the IFCN since 2023. Whether in North Africa or Sub-Saharan Africa, whether a large pan-African platform or small one country platform, almost all of the funding for African fact checking comes from Western sources.

After examining the manner in which fact checkers in Africa moderate content, a bias towards Western agendas and Western approved narratives can be clearly identified. This is not in African interests as the African continent has its own problems and interests, and it would be logical if African interests were prioritised over those of Europe and North America. Censorship does not unite populations; instead it creates resentment and frustration. This is particularly burdensome when censorship is designed to meet the needs of an overseas entity. Africa is being exploited by the Western funded Censorship Industrial Complex.

Despite African fact checkers’ statements of support for democracy, the reality is that this cannot be achieved within the current content moderation rules. This report reveals that Information in Africa is being censored by Africans to meet the expectations of their Western paymasters.

Thank you for reading this report from The Control of Information. If you wish to find out more about fact checkers, please subscribe to my Substack.

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